Hidden Natures - (Formerly on my other account, Lady Kiko-chan)
by Lady Selphie-chan
Summary: SYOC! With dozens of new characters, what will be different in the world of Naruto? Who would live and who would die? Which events would never unfold and which new ones would take their places? How will OC's and Canon characters mix? What will friendships, relationships and rivalries look like? Contains a wide variety of Genres, and is rated M for safety and for some mature themes.


_Alrighty, here we go again! :)_

 _First and foremost, if you are a young child or simply someone not prepared or interested in occasional gore and blood, or other adult themes, this is NOT the story for you._

 _For those of you returning readers from when I put this story up as Lady Kiko-chan; welcome back! And thank you for having faith in me._

 _Secondly, if you expect a retelling of the adventures of Naruto with simply an added character or so, then you've come to the wrong place. This story will include plenty of OC's, both my own and others. This story will keep the most basic plot-points of Naruto, but will change everything else. With added characters and everything that comes with them, so comes all the changes they as individuals cause in the story, and as such much will not be the same. Canon characters that die, might survive, and vice versa. Some may die earlier or later than in the canon. Canon characters who fight each other in said Canon, might not do so here. Do not expect to know the outcome of a match-up._

 _Thirdly, this is a SYOC; a Submit Your Own Character story. See the OC form below, should you wish to send one in. I reserve the right to accept or deny a character, as well as ask for modifications, additions, deletions and/or clarifications to my hearts content. I expect detailed appearances, without references to characters or things from Naruto or other franchises. If you can not describe it, how will you expect me to do it? And once your character is submitted and subsequently accepted, their fate is in my hands, and my hands alone. I make no promises for ANYTHING. They are completely at my mercy. Whether they die or survive, lose a limb, or turn evil, etc. It is all up to me. So. Submit at your own risk! Muwhahahaha! PS! OC's are only accepted over PM!_

 _OC forms and documents filled with facts can be found linked on my profile, peruse at will, but do not use without permission._

 _And lastly, I will not start out the story properly until I have the genin I primarily need. As mentioned above, very little will be the same as in canon. That includes the assigned Genin Teams and their Sensei. The Genin teams will not be what they are in the Canon. As such, I have fourteen Genin spots I need filled primarily, and until they are filled, I will accept no other characters unless said author has contacted me and pitched me a character idea that is good enough to make an exception for. The Genin spots are for both Narutos generation, as well as the generation of Neji, Tenten and Lee. No, you do not get to choose which Canon character your OC ends up in the same team as. That will be something I will decide as I pair up the characters with the best potential for team work, in my eyes._

 **Prologue**

Sarutobi Hiruzen is a tired man. Shouldering an entire village, for a second round in his life, is no easy feat. And it has made him tired. Each choice weighing down his mind, hanging like the proverbial brick on his shoulders. He shuffles his papers and stares, unseeingly, at the words written down upon them.

Today is the day they are scheduled to come back. After four years. Four long and tremulous years. Filled with complaints and arguments over _why._ Why did he send them away? Why did he let them go? Why them? Why trust them with the task? Why _outsiders_? Why? Why? _Why_?

He still remembers that late evening, four years ago. At the relatively young age of twenty, Midorikawa Aoi had stood in front of his desk and informed him she was leaving. She was a subject of the Liaison program organized by the Land of Light, sent to the Hidden Leaf from the Hidden Jewel as an ambassador and ninja on loan. The peace between the Lands of Light and Fire has always been solid. The reason behind that truth is different depending on who you ask.

She had been a liaison and ambassador in Konoha for ten long years at the time, already a jounin at the age of nine and had a reputation built that was impressive. The following ten years had been an uphill battle for the young kunoichi, as she fought to gain, while not necessarily trust, a modicum of respect from the village she was stationed on. Hiruzen had secretly had her watched, which he was sure she was well aware of and not insulted by, and had been equally secretly rooting for her. A force to be reckoned with and a very likable girl, Aoi had made acquaintances easy enough. Coming from a village and country on one side of a centuries long peace and stationed at the other had its advantages, of course, as there was no natural hostility towards her as an outsider. Only the habitual suspicion that comes with ones participation in the shinobi craft.

She had gained the favour of both the third and, at the time, future fourth Hokage and had tentatively served as Namikaze Minato's fourth student. But what truly had cemented Sarutobi Hiruzens trust - yes, trust, there was no denying that - had been the event three years into her residency in Konoha; the Kyuubi attack. Her part in the incident had quickly been classified after the fact, and whispers had been going around ever since. But what Hiruzen knew, that not many did, was that without her things would have ended worse.

After losing both Rin and Obito, Minato's two remaining students had not taken the situation well. What had saved Aoi had been her newly born godson. She had come to him as soon as the day after had begun - Hiruzen was sure she hadn't slept a wink, who had, really? - and showed him the content of a scroll. The will of Minato and Kushina for their, at the time, unborn child. They had wanted their child, should anything happen to the both of them, in the hands of the liaison kunoichi. Hiruzen has locked eyes with the girl, only thirteen at the time, with so many responsibilities on her small frame, and seen only pain and determination in those lavender eyes. She wanted that boy. She wanted him - to raise and to love - more than life itself. And, staring into those eyes belonging to a foreign kunoichi he knew many believed he never should trust, he had agreed. It hadn't been as simple as that, of course; there had been papers to sign, seals to place and arrangements to be made. But holding that boy in her arms, knowing no one would take the babe away from her - Hiruzen knew he'd be ruthless should anyone try - had been a balm to her battered little soul.

The third Hokage shuffles his papers some more, before setting them to the side and proceeding to fold his hands across his hakama covered midriff.

Hiruzen had continued having her watched after the adoption had been finalized. Not because he didn't trust her - he couldn't fool himself into believing himself if he ever proclaimed he didn't - but because accountability had to be covered. If something should happen, he needed to be able to proclaim every measure taken in preparation for said incident. But mostly, personally, he'd have her watched as to him, she was a sign of hope. This young girl, a kunoichi of a generation long after his, held silent strength. He had no doubt in his mind that, should Aoi had held no friendships in Konoha and not had a godson relying on her, she would have been just as much of a broken shell as her Senseis other student. She'd pulled herself together and been the mother to that boy that only she would and could be.

Hiruzen chuckles softly in thought. Many Konoha citizens, civilians and shinobi alike, had questioned his sanity when he'd allowed the adoption. And at times, from an outside perspective, he understood why. There had been whispers among the citizens. Civilians who knew nothing of the true nature of the Kyuubi or what the consequences of the acts they so naively whispered about, had suggested abandoning the child of the fourth Hokage, had insinuated that the child was better of dead. Midorikawa Aoi had retaliated and been more ruthless than most ever thought the sweet young girl could be. She'd also been smarter and more cunning, and had used the system against the whole village. She had made it quite clear that, should anything happen to her son - as the adoption was done and no one could deny him the title - then Konoha would be facing a full war with not just Hosekigakure, but the entire Land of Light. As the boy was now an adopted Midorikawa, the Midorikawa clan in Hoseki considered him family, and as such Hoseki and the Land of Light as a whole considered him one of them. And the Land of Light protect their own. Against all odds. No matter what.

That had muted the whispers immediately, and while the citizens had not stopped completely, they had at least had enough self preservation in them to not speak the words in the young mothers company. This had somewhat soured her presence in Konoha. Yet she paid them no heed. Her son came first. And Sarutobi Hiruzen secretly - not so secretly, but the Hokage would like to think it went unnoticed - admired the young woman for it. The Hokage still remembers when the relatively young Jounin commander had stood by with a handful of other high ranking individuals as Hiruzen read the contents of the recently received scroll. The Nara man had listened attentively with the others, his face paling slightly as the words of the scroll left the Hokages lips. Midorikawa Aois threat about a war with the Land of Light over the little boy had not been idle. The scroll in Hiruzens hand at the time had contained the formal declaration of adoption and inclusion into the Midorikawa clan - as well as their protection - of the little babe.

Hiruzen can to this day still feel the corners of his lips quirk up in amusement at the expression on Nara Shikaku that day. One does not easily surprise a Nara. And secretly, Hiruzen applauded Aoi for her political thinking.

Yet, the rumours and fear filled glances and abundance of prejudice didn't go away. And four years ago it had finally come to a head. Hiruzen shouldn't have been surprised, really. She had proven time and time again through the years that the little boy was her son and to hell with anyone who would think to harm him. And so she stood in front of him once more. In his office. And declared, not asked - Hiruzen really wasn't surprised at that little detail - that she was taking her son with her to Hosekigakure. To train and learn to be a shinobi without all the bias and ill treatment. To be a normal child with friends and a childhood. And she had gazed at him with those shimmering lavender eyes, filled with pain and love and worry. Filled with tears and hard with simmering fury. Someone had taken the torment of her baby boy to far, in a way that she simply couldn't solve in a peaceful way or with the skills of a kunoichi. So she was going for another approach; remove her child from the harmful environment. She declared, not asked.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the second he accepted the title and power of the Hokage, also accepted the responsibility of each and every citizen in this village. That included that boy. That innocent boy who knew nothing of why no one wanted to be near him or touch him, who had not even the slightest idea why he was looked down upon as if he was the dirt under their shoes. Hiruzen had felt the crushing defeat, the unavoidable pain of not being enough. He had failed that boy. He had failed protecting him from his own neighbors. And that hurt. And as he met her eyes, soft lavender ones with a single tear rolling down her right cheek, he offered her a team of four shinobis as an escort to the Land of Lights' borders.

It's been four years since that day. Today is the agreed date for their return. And the slight breeze of wind just now, has Hiruzen glance up from his desk. And there she is, there they are. Midorikawa Aoi and Uzumaki Naruto. Four years older. Lavender eyes, just as shimmery as four years ago, with curly mulberry purple hair thirty or so centimetres longer than he remembers. Yet the scrawny little blonde boy he remembers used to clutch his mothers hand while walking down the streets, hiding behind her civilian skirts at times as glares were sent her way. He isn't there anymore. In his place, not behind his mother, but standing with a straight back beside her is a young pre-teen. Wide and kind cerulean eyes, the telltale whiskers laying softly against his cheeks and blonde hair - like sunshine, Hiruzen absentmindedly observes - windblown and short. What used to be skinny arms and legs are now toned and lithe limbs, paired with wide shoulders fit into black trousers, black shinobi sandals and an orange shirt.

They both bow simultaneously, "Hokage-sama."

And all Hiruzen can do is smile. Hosekigakure has done them both good. Very good indeed.

"Welcome back to Konoha, Aoi-chan, Naruto-kun"

-0-0-0-0-0-

One thing that ALWAYS bothered me about the situation around Naruto, is how I feel like it's dismissed at times, forgotten as if unimportant. Yet his treatment made Naruto who he is. And just disregarding that for other plots doesn't seem right too me. What the entire Village did in the Canon is child abuse, severe child abuse. So either I'd spend chapters upon chapters dealing with that treatment, or I change it.

In this story, Naruto has a mother, a living one. They're not related by blood, but they love each other more than anything. This Naruto is the result of a mother who loves him, and the knowledge that his birth parents adored him until their last breaths. Naruto knows that he is wanted. That he is loved. And he grows up to represent that. Parts of the Naruto we all love from Canon will be there, but big changes will also be there as consequences of a different childhood.

That is just one of MANY big changes I'll be doing in my story.

With Love, Selphie ;)


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